This rich and savory dish is perfect for entertaining- and you can assemble it all the night before!

This blog post was sponsored by Stonefire Naan, but all opinions expressed are my own.

When most people hear bread pudding, they think of dessert.  But there’s a whole other world of savory bread puddings and it’s pretty amazing.  Savory bread pudding, also sometimes known as strata, is a casserole made with cubed bread, cheese and other ingredients like vegetables or meat, baked in an egg-based custard.  This rich and elegant dish is equally suitable for the brunch or dinner table.  It also makes an excellent side dish or vegetarian entrée for the holidays.

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Protein-packed quinoa replaces white rice in this healthier version of the classic Chinese restaurant dish.  Quinoa is a gluten-free whole grain that provides a variety of vitamins, minerals and fiber to boost the nutrition of this recipe.

Fried rice holds a special place in my heart.  The year after I graduated from college and was living on my own for the first time, it was the first dish I learned to make.  I pretty much ate nothing but fried rice for a year.  It was fast, easy, convenient and most importantly, cheap! 

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With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I'm sure many of you are in menu planning mode.  I know I am!  As one of the biggest, if not the absolute biggest food holiday, Thanksgiving gets its fair share of attention from the food blogging community.  It seems like social media has been taken over  with holiday inspired recipes, and I've been seeing so many incredible dishes on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook.  So I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.  The 20 recipes below include some appetizers, entrees, side dishes and desserts.  Many of them are healthy and some are a bit more indulgent.  Enjoy and happy cooking!

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Brussels sprouts are definitely a polarizing food- people either love ‘em or hate ‘em.  Personally, they weren’t my favorite vegetable growing up.  This is probably because my mom never cooked them at home so my only experience was at restaurants where they were usually boiled to death and served with absolutely no seasoning.  But, in recent years, the humble Brussels sprout has definitely had a huge growth in popularity.  You can find them on any restaurant menu from casual to gourmet.  Shaved, deep-fried, roasted, braised and of course everyone’s favorite- cooked with bacon.  There’s something about the salty, smoky flavor of bacon that pairs really well with the slight bitterness of the sprouts.     

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Peanut butter, sesame oil and soy sauce come together with ginger and garlic in this addictive noodle dish.  A staple on Chinese-American restaurant menus, Cold Sesame Noodles are easy to make at home.  This dish requires minimal cooking time and makes a great appetizer or side dish.  Add some steamed broccoli or grilled chicken and it becomes a substantial main course.  Although they have the word "cold" in their name, the noodles can be served hot, cold or at room temperature.

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One of my favorite ways to eat vegetables is to roast them in the oven. Roasting vegetables at a high temperature caramelizes their sugars and brings out their natural sweetness.  As the vegetables roast, they brown on the outside, become buttery soft on the inside and their flavors intensify.  I usually make a couple of large trays of them and store them in the refrigerator so that I can snack on them throughout the week.  They're great with rice or quinoa or as a side dish with grilled chicken or fish.  I also like to add them to salads, sandwiches, quesadillas and pasta dishes.    

My Perfect Oven-Roasted Vegetables are colorful, delicious and packed with nutrients.  For this version, I used a mixture of bell peppers, zucchini, carrots and red onion but you can use your favorite combination of vegetables.  I simply toss them with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.  I also like to throw some whole garlic cloves on the pan along with the other vegetables.  As the garlic roasts, the flavor mellows out and it becomes soft and sweet.  In the winter I make the same dish but with heartier vegetables like sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips and butternut squash.  Asparagus, beets, fennel, brussel sprouts and cauliflower are some other great options for roasting.  

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